SBA Forms New Partnerships in Taiwan and China
Students to complete masters degrees on Berrien Springs campus
The School of Business Administration (SBA) has forged new strategic alliances with Chung Shan Medical University (CSMU) and National Taipei University in Nursing and Health Science, both located in Taiwan. The alliances will allow students from those universities to study at Andrews University for the final part of their undergraduate program, followed by enrolling in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Andrews.
Students would complete 3.5 years in Taiwan, then transfer to Andrews for one semester to complete their undergraduate degree by taking outstanding prerequisites required for the MBA program here. Additionally, students would be offered a review for both the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Jerry Chi, assistant dean for the SBA, visited four universities during his 2015 vacation in Taiwan and began the current relationship between the two universities and the SBA.
“I wanted to do something for our universities in Taiwan, so I contacted some of the city’s senators,” he explains. “I have friends who work for universities there and they introduced me to the presidents of these universities,” says Chi.
Establishing partnerships with international schools can be quite challenging, as Chi points out.
“Many governments can feel uncomfortable sending their students to the U.S. and having them pay a much higher tuition rate,” he says. “Furthermore, they’re afraid that their students will leave their Taiwan university. This is why we developed the model that allows them to do most of their schooling there, a semester here, then transfer those credits to their home university in Taiwan, thus completing their Taiwan undergraduate degree, then spending a minimum of one year at Andrews for the MBA program.”
Kan-Jen Tsai, dean of the School of Medicine at CSMU, visited the Andrews campus in the fall of 2015.
“At the time of his visit, Dr. Tsai commented that he appreciated the friendly, Christian environment and thought it was a good and safe place for foreign students to study and to experience its variety of cultures,” says Chi.
Chi and Allen Stembridge, SBA dean, both visited the two medical universities in Taiwan in March of 2016 as a follow up to Tsai’s visit to Andrews.
“A signed Memorandum of Understanding with CSMU now allows for the SBA at Andrews to offer the final MBA prerequisite courses on its campus followed by the possibility of the Taiwanese students continuing in the MBA program here, provided all entrance requirements are met,” explains Stembridge. “We are expecting the program to start small at first until the partnership becomes better known and accepted.”
This initiative in Taiwan has sparked an interest through Tsai’s connections with five medical universities in China. Tsai, Chi and Stembridge will be visiting universities in Guangzhou, Guangdong, Xuzhou, Lishua and Shanghai in June 2016 to meet university officials to take the first steps toward developing similar programs in China.
Due to his own background, Chi has always taken a special interest in Chinese students at Andrews. He offers Chinese vespers followed by dinner in his home every other week, and has done this for the past two years. He often takes Chinese students to do their shopping and in some instances helps to prepare them for their driver’s licensing test.
Chi is excited about the future of the relationships now being established with the medical universities in Taiwan and in China.
“The program could grow to include student exchanges, partnerships in research and study tours,” he says excitedly. “In addition, these initial contacts open doors for collaborative opportunities for the School of Health Professions and other health-related programs at Andrews.”
To learn more about the Andrews University School of Business Administration, visit andrews.edu/sba, email sba-info@andrews.edu or call 269-471-3632.
